It Has Been One Fun Run

As we I head into the sixth month of writing this blog, I will be transitioning more about the upcoming season as it rapidly approaches after today, but I thought it might be a little bit of fun to talk about some of the highlights of the last five months, of which many of you might consider low-lights, which is fine as well.

Before the highlights, I must add writing this blog has been a fun experience, especially the 100s of comments I get back from people, whether it be some proofreading errors, telling me I am all wet, or praising my thoughts. I would also be remiss in not taking a little shot about some people in the media who think it is funny to keep using the tired line about "most bloggers are people who write from their mother's basement". Most bloggers take their work seriously, at least I do, they care about putting out a quality product, they often do it for therapy for themselves and last but most important, writing on any subject has been a large part of the culture of the world, so as the kids of today say, "deal with it."

Five month highlights or low-lights.

1. I have had lots of fun writing about the great accomplishments of Danny Miles, head basketball coach at Oregon Tech. I have even gone so far as to promote him for the basketball hall of fame, heck if anyone ever deserved to be in there it is Miles. And I can tell you this, when I write about him, it is still the highest read column in the history of this blog. It is heartwarming for myself to hear from so many people whose life has been touched by Danny Miles, both on and off the court. His time to go in the Hall is now, not later, I hope he is in the class of 2012.

2. When you write a blog, if you want it to be worth reading you have to do your homework, that was why I was stunned to find out that free throw shooting in the NCAA has basically not improved since 1965, maybe the most stunning statistic in all of sports. Is it technique, is it mental, is it lack of practice? I know one thing for sure, if I was an NCAA coach I would bring in the great Brian Levenson, from Core Mental Training to make my team better. Brian is awesome and one of the best mental sports coaches in the world.

3. It was fun, it actually was not written as a lark, but instead it was what I thought was a pretty darn good idea. But did I think it would gain any traction, no way. When I wrote about no second overtimes in games, instead going to a free throw shootout for many reasons, the idea has actually gained some steam and I had at least one member of the NCAA rules committee give me call. Now will it go anywhere, I doubt it, but it will not be because of lack of trying.  I plan to continue to pursue the idea with basketball people.

4. Also lots of fun to find out that David Stern, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did not save the NBA. What saved the NBA was the fact that Bill Russell felt dissed by Harlem Globetrotter owner Abe Saperstein and instead of signing with Globbies, he signed with the Celtics, thus creating the start of one of the greatest dynasties in sports and bringing credibility to the NBA. Sticking with the Globetrotter theme, they played a big role in another NBA dynasty when at the last minute in 1975, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar decided to sign with the Lakers, rather than go to the Trotters, thus creating "Showtime" with the Lakers and bringing so much attention to NBA basketball worldwide.

Well, I am going to stop right there, enough, you can always read my previous stories and quite frankly, all of my work should be a highlight, otherwise I should not be doing this.

Finally, big, big thank you to Kevin, who runs the great blog, http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com, for linking several of my articles in his Sunday column. It was nice to be treated greatly by such a pro and someone who is so respected in the basketball world.

All I can say to everyone is a BIG THANK YOU and you have my commitment to keep this blog as fresh, informative and entertaining as I can possibly make it.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com,  please follow myself on twitter @wchoops